Volume 59 Issue 2 September 1, 2015 Issue 60 November 1, 2016 Volume 5

November Notes from Your District Governor…

Greetings all. It is November and the leaves have fallen and once again we

are on winter watch. November is Rotary Foundation Month and Rotary United

Nations Month. These two events have collided this year on the 12th of Novem-

ber, and they are both important in the Rotary World.

As Rotary and Rotarians, we have a special relationship with the United Na-

tions as there were many Rotarians who actually worked on the Charter – the

creation of the United Nations after WWII.

Rotary remains one of only two NGOs with a permanent presence at the

United Nations. Along with our work on Polio eradication, our support and pro-

ject work around the world makes us excellent allies with UNICEF and The World

Health Organization. We can be very proud of our association with the UN and

these groups for the world health issues support for dealing with disease preven-

tions and treatment as well as development health programs.

The Rotary Foundation is 100 years old this year and we can certainly be very

proud of a Foundation that ranks in the top 10 in the world, is well respected by

many and ranks #6 on Charity Navigator, 92+% going directly to services within

our many projects. We will celebrate the 100 years of “doing good in the world"

on November 12th.

Register for our dinner with the Foundation Committee through Jerry Reisch

our District Registrar. Recognizing the Foundation and the good works it has

funded in our communities and the world is an important part of building a Foun-

dation for which future Rotarians can utilize to grow humanitarian projects. The

Foundation will be a vital resource for new Rotarians as we strive to grow and

serve for our next Rotary 100 years.

I hope you will join with me and the Foundation Committee in celebrating the

100 years of good works at the Ramada Inn in Clarks Summit on November 12th,

2016. More details are available on the web site and with the committee. This

should be a momentous event, and if you have a Paul Harris recognition to give,

please call Mary Ellen Bentler for details of having yours recognized at the event.

As I weave my way through the district making the Governor’s official visits to

the clubs, I am humbled by the intensity of humanitarian service the various clubs

have discussed with me. Each club seems to have a key passion for service in a

Introducing… “Josh the Otter” — Page 4

Raising Funds Taste-fully in Abingtons — Page 6

Signs Help Keep Kids Safe in Dallas — Page 7

“Healing Waters” for Disabled Veterans — Page 9

Experiencing “World on a Fork” — Page 12

Pre-Event Sales Big Success for Wine Fest —Page 13

Exchange Student Reaps Sports Kudos —Page 16

Serving Up Spaghetti for Scholarships —Page 17

Walking to End Polio —Page 19

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 2

certain subject area, and yet they reach out into

their respective communities and give so much

more in their drive to be a vital dynamic member in

their service area. Big or small, the clubs find a

need and work to provide for that need. And their

enthusiasm never seems to wane. It is remarkable

to hear each club present their activities and the

pride they take in making a difference in the world.

In the effort to schedule official meetings, the As-

sistant Governors have been instrumental in work-

ing out schedules with some clubs coming together

in groups of 2, 3 or 4 to reduce the travel around the

district. This has been very helpful as it means that

the DG gets to the clubs earlier in the first quar-

ter. So, far as of the 25th of October, there are only

six clubs left to schedule an official visit. If your club

is one of the six, your AG may be looking for a date

from you to schedule. Thank you all who have

hosted me so far.

Your warm hospitality and openness about your

club’s passion for humanitarian service has warmed

my spirits. No matter what turmoil there is out

there in the world and our communities, there is a

group of ethical and service minded Rotarians who

are at work making life and circumstances better for

the many who need help and support. Thank you

for showing me some of those very endeavors.

Yours in Service, Marcia Loughman, District Governor 2016-2017

APOLOGIES AND CORRECTION: Please make a note clarifying District roles

for Social Media and Rotary Public Image chairs.

As Sandy Peoples is serving on the Crisis Manage-

ment Committee, she serves as Public Image

Chair. While Karen DeMatteo has been chairing

( Editor) for our District Facebook page. Both of

these Rotarians are excellent resources and cer-

tainly work together to support our interests for so-

cial media and Public Image and act on our behalf

with integrity. Thank you both, Sandy and Karen

and my apologies for this error in our directory.

Best regards Marcia Loughman DG

DISTRICT GOVERNOR CONTINUES….

From the Editor’s Laptop...

In the year-plus that I’ve been doing this news-

letter, I’ve come to appreciate all those years as a

newspaper editor and reporter working on dead-

line. As with most publications, much of your con-

tent comes in the stretch run, but more about that

later.

I’m not here to cry and whine

as indicated by the accompa-

nying illustration I call “Crying

Guy.” I must admit that it was

a struggle at first working with

not only the unfamiliar Pub-

lisher software, but with a PC

that differs from the Macs

with which I have worked ex-

clusively on the job and at

home for so many years.

Publisher does not provide a

Mac version, so DG Barbara

(now Past DG) who recruited

me for the job, provided me

with an aging Dell, which

regularly threatened to go on

strike but always came

through under pressure. One

of her last official acts was to provide me, as news-

letter editor, with a new HP laptop to use.

It has taken me a couple of months to become

confident with the HP, which turned out to be so

much unlike the Dell, especially with updated soft-

SEE, “FROM THE EDITOR,” PAGE 20.

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 3

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 4

The Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

Tunkhannock Rotarian Terry Furman (right) presents

the Josh the Otter book to a young child and her mother

at “Family Fun Night”.

‘Josh the Otter’ Brings Lifesaving Message for Kids

For the last four years, the Tunkhannock Rotary

Club has partnered with H.A.N.D.S. (Helping Area

Needs for Diverse Services) of Wyoming County to

distribute Josh the Baby Otter water safety books to

pre-school children.

The Tunkhannock Club became involved in this

endeavor after two Wyoming County children lost

their lives through drowning in their backyard swim-

ming pools in a 1 month summer timeframe. Club

secretary Carol Ziomek found this program through

an advertisement from an authorized Rotary Sup-

plier. She brought it to the attention of the Board of

Directors, who immediately decided this was a pro-

ject that could potentially save the lives of our most

vulnerable population, our children. Since 2010, Ro-

tarians have distributed thousands of Josh the Baby

Otter books. The Tunkhannock Club is one of only

two Rotary Clubs in Pennsylvania who are currently

participating in this important project.

This program was created by the nonprofit

Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation (JCMF):

Parents Blake and Kathy Collingsworth honor

the memory of their two-year-old son Joshua, who

died on June 4, 2008 after falling into the family pool

three days earlier. They believed they had every

safety precaution in place, but the reality is that a

drowning can occur in mere moments. After losing

Joshua, they felt compelled to help reduce the dra-

matic numbers of deaths by drowning that occur in

our country and around the world. The Joshua

Collingsworth Memorial Foundation was created in

July of 2008 to serve as a catalyst to strengthen wa-

ter safety awareness and create an early childhood

educational program. Their goal is to empower chil-

dren to be safe in and around ALL bodies of water

to prevent similar tragedies. The Josh the Otter Wa-

ter Safety and Awareness Project is dedicated to

teaching young children about water safety through

the use of Josh the Baby Otter a book written by

Blake. (http://www.joshtheotter.org/)

According to the CDC, drowning is the number

one cause of accidental death for children between

the ages of one and four (Center for Disease Con-

trol & Prevention, 2008). The book was written to

teach children to “stay away from water unless

with an adult and to always swim with a buddy.”

Over a million children have heard this message

worldwide through the efforts of the JCMF and its

partners (including Rotary).

Recently, the Josh the Otter Foundation asked

Rotary Clubs to nominate their clubs for the 2016

Rotary Water Safety Advocacy Award. Tunkhan-

nock Rotarian Terry Furman, who is also a Par-

ents as Teachers Educator & National Trainer at

H.A.N.D.S., wrote a piece on the Tunkhannock

program and submitted it to the competition.

Terry's piece and the accompanying photo (below)

were selected for their "picture of the week" on

SEE, “JOSH.” PAGE FIVE.

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 5

Sept 30 on their Facebook page

(h t t ps : / /www. f acebook .com/

joshtheotter/?fref=nf).

“The Tunkhannock Rotary Club

has been distributing “Josh the

Otter” books for the past four

years in the Tunkhannock Area

School District. By establishing a

partnership with H.A.N.D.S

(Helping area needs for diverse

services) of Wyoming County, we

have successfully placed this in

the hands of parents with young

children. In the spring of each year

H.A.N.D.S of Wyoming County

hosts a “Family Fun Night” for chil-

dren entering kindergarten. The

Rotary Club is one of the resource

tables at this event. A Rotarian

gives each child a book and asks

each parent to take the water

safety pledge with their child. The

parents love that the book includes

a CD and the children love the col-

oring book and the stickers! Fur-

thermore, parents can sign up to

take CPR/First Aide classes and

they are given information on

swimming classes for their chil-

dren at the local high school. The

Rotary Club is grateful for the op-

portunity to share this wonderful

book with families in their commu-

nity.”

JOSH THE OTTER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE FOUR

Active Adult Center Hosts Rotarians at Luncheon

Tunkhannock Rotarians held a weekly October at the Wyoming Active Adult

Center where they received a big thank you for their efforts there.

On Oct 13, members of the

Tunkhannock Rotary Club were

the honored guests of the Wyo-

ming County Active Adult Center

at a luncheon to thank the Club

for painting & updating the interior

of the building. About 15 Rotari-

ans worked on the project, which

was a BYOB (bring your own

brush) event. The funds for this

project were realized at last

year’s Harvest & Wine Festival.

Although the club has tradi-

tionally funded a lot of programs

for the youth in the community,

no programs in recent years have

been geared to predominantly

benefit the senior members of the

area. Rotarian Patty Ehrenzeller,

who exercises at the Center, pro-

posed this painting/spruce up

project at the Center and led it to

completion in Oct.

The Center members invited

the Rotary Club to hold its regular

Thursday meeting at the Center

with lunch provided as a thank

you. The three Tunkhannock ex-

change students (Stefano Sica

from Italy, Andres Mendez Perez

from Mexico and Sakulsap

“Donut” Lakul from Thailand)

gave updates on their recent ac-

tivities and Rotarian Frank Oliver

gave a presentation on the Drug

Take Back Event on Oct 22.

As a treat, Tunkhannock Ro-

tary President Ann Way arranged

for members of the High School

Chorus, under the direction of

Tara Kasperowski, to come in

and entertain with a choral con-

cert followed by some “oldies but

goodies” in a sing-along from the

Rotary Song Book. Although many

of the teenage choral members

had never heard of some of the

songs before they began practic-

ing them, members of the audi-

ence loved being taken back in

time by some old standards like

“Let me call you sweetheart”, “I’ve

Been Working on the Railroad”

and “The Band Played On”.

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 6

Rotary Club of the Abingtons

Fundraising Tastefully in the Abingtons

SEE “ABINGTONS,” NEXT PAGE.

Vice President Laurie Stevens

BY EILEEN CHRISTIAN

At the Taste of the Abingtons,

held the first Sunday of October at

the Ramada Inn, the classy tone

was set in the lobby when the

sounds of the grand piano, played

by Kenny McGraw, were heard by

crowds of people. The Twelfth An-

nual Taste had begun. Local res-

taurants, caterers and markets set

up mini stations and served bites

of their best food in the spacious

dining rooms of the Ramada.

The Inn sparkled with large flo-

ral bouquets of purples and

greens in exotic décor. Pumpkins

had no jack o lantern faces but

rather an elegant look, painted

shiny in gold and silver. The dou-

ble ball room opened up with our

own past president and past dis-

trict governor, Gus Vlassis, giving

information and welcoming all to

the event.

The Mark Nolan Trio played

throughout the afternoon, adding

to the party ambience. Round ta-

bles and chairs were set off in one

area for friends to gather and offer

opinions on the various foods pre-

sented.

Cooper’s Restaurant has been

with us every year. They do not

actually serve their famous crab

bisque, that chore has been done

by our Rotary Past President

Roger Mattis. When he was out of

the country this year on Rotary

business, his wife, Jackie, took

over the job of serving the popular

soup.

Thirteen Olives gave out slices

of a walnut mousse cake, all

made with olive oil. Sidel’s from

Scranton showed off their Chicken

Scarpaletti; while Jambalaya was

given away by the Sunrise Café

and La Tonalteca served tacos.

Crab was featured by several res-

taurants, Fern Hall Inn, Wise Mar-

kets and Gerrity’s. Pasta was set

out by chefs, Penne Vodka by Ab-

biocco; and Pasta with Kale and

Pine nuts by A Little Pizza

Heaven. A second station set up

by Wise Markets showed off their

confections, decorated to perfec-

tion.

Wines were sipped from tiny

cups through the courtesy of

Capra Colina and Bartolai Winer-

ies. Patrons not only tasted the

varieties of wine but also were

treated to beer by Boys & a

Beer’d. Throughout the afternoon

in this sipping room, we were

treated to outstanding guitar mu-

sic.

Our High School students in

the Interact Club brought their

families and helped set up. The

local Boy Scouts, one of our many

charities, ably assisted in the

event.

All of this gala event was

planned and directed by our Vice

President, Laurie Stevens.

She is a graphic designer by

trade and a generous Rotarian.

She designed a holding plate so

that as eager patrons stopped by

for food bites, they could set them

on an attractive plate and leisurely

nibble as they strolled through the

Inn. Her management of all the de-

tails of this fund raiser showed in

the success of the Wine Pull, the

silent auction and the smooth exe-

cution of this classy Fall social

event.

As Rotarians we work free. We

even buy a ticket as we work to

help our cause. And extraordinary

causes they are. First our interna-

tional goal continues to be the

eradication of polio in the world.

We also raise money for the Salva-

tion Army, who uses that charity for

local people at risk. Boy Scouts

receive our help, dictionaries are

given to every third grader, the

highway is cleaned up and the

community enjoys the Fireworks

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 7

ABINGTONS… CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6.

The Rotary Club of Dallas

Display on the 4th.

All of these goals are carried out in a spirit of

cooperation and friendship. Perhaps you are

looking for a way to do good and make friends.

If so, join the Rotary Club of the Abingtons. You

are invited to a Thursday lunch meeting at the

Ramada Inn. Call me for details 570 563 1171.

Jean and Paul Manning dish out Manning's ice

cream at the Taste of the Abingtons.

Dallas Twp. Police Chief Robert Jolley, Dallas

Rotary President Jason Jolley, program participant

Fiona Pungitore, and Dallas Elementary School Prin-

cipal Tom Traver stand at one of the two signs.

Signs in Dallas Make It Safer for Deaf Children

The Dallas Rotary

Club recently purchased

two signs to help keep

the children safe at the

Da l l as E lementa ry

School. The purpose of

the signs is to warn mo-

torists that there are deaf

children on the school

grounds and to slow

down for their safety.

There is a lot of car and

bus traffic at the begin-

ning and end of the day,

and the hearing impaired

children cannot hear the

vehicles around them.

The signs are located at the entrance drive-

way of the school grounds, and the other is at

the drop off area near the building. The signs

were the idea of

Jason Jolley, Presi-

dent of the Dallas

R o t a r y

Club. Principal

Tom Traver and

other school offi-

cials quickly got on

board, and the two

signs were placed

just in time for the new school year to be-

gin. They were installed by the school mainte-

nance department. Principal Traver and school

resource officer, Gina Kotowski, are grateful for

the signs, and they have already seen a visible

difference in the flow of traffic around the school

once people learn about the hearing impaired

children at the school. The hearing impaired pro-

gram director, Sue Zerfoss, indicated that chil-

dren come from as far away as Hazleton and

Tunkhannock to take advantage of this pre-

school program for the hearing impaired.

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 8

On Thursday, October 6, the Rotary Club of Dallas

hosted the Cluster 7 visit from District Governor, Marcia

Loughman. Her heartfelt message and stated goals were

well received by the large number of Rotarians in atten-

dance from numerous clubs in the area.From left are

Kingston President Dave Tarantini, Pittston Rotarian

and Assistant Governor John John, District Governor

Marcia Loughman, Pittston President Jackie Hoover-

Darby, Plymouth President Dave Yefko, Dallas President

Jason Jolley, Plains President Alan Bartoli.

Dallas Rotary Club Hosts District Governor's Visit

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 9

Rotary Club of The Stroudsburgs

Rotarians Reach Out to Disabled Veterans

Leslie Underhill and John Rocchio

were among Stroudsburg Rotarians rec-

ognized by Operation Healing Waters.

At a club assembly on Octo-

ber 6, Leslie Underhill

(Stroudsburg Club) and John

Rocchio (Stroudsburg Satellite

Club) – along with several

other club members - received

recognition as sponsors of Pro-

ject Healing Waters.

Project Healing Waters is

"dedicated to the physical and

emotional rehabilitation of dis-

abled active military service

personnel and disabled veter-

ans through fly fishing and as-

sociated activities including

education and outings."

The event took place at the

home of Rotarian Ray Starner

in Stroudsburg on July 6.

Also at the assembly, a

friendly competition to see who

knows the most about Rotary

paired a senior Rotarian with a

newer Rotarian for a trivia con-

test. First place went to Doug

Smith and Kirby Upright (below

left) with President Karen De-

Matteo) and second to Dennis

Jeter and Frank Herting (below

right).

Buzz Bensinger, Past President of the Rotary

Club of the Stroudsburgs, passed away on Oct. 24

at the age of 95.

Born Alexander Loder Bensinger and known to

all as “Buzz,” he was an East Stroudsburg native

and a practicing attorney for more than six decades

before retiring in 2012. He enjoyed public service

and served as Monroe County Solicitor as well as

solicitor for the East Stroudsburg and Pocono

Mountain School Districts.

He also served his country as a Medic with the

U.S. Army Air Force after graduating from Dart-

mouth in 1944. He went on to earn his law degree

from the Temple University School of Law.

He was a member and past president of the

Monroe County Bar Association, Pennsylvania

School Board Solicitors Association, Pocono Moun-

tains Chamber of Commerce, Stroudsburg Rotary

Club, Monroe County Crippled Children and Adult

Association and the Monroe County YMCA, where

he was also Chairman of Trustees. He was also a

member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and

the Estate Planning Council of Northeastern Penn-

sylvania. See his obituary at http://

www.poconorecord.com/obituaries/20161026/

alexander-loder-buzz-bensinger.

Buzz Bensinger, Past Club President, Dies at Age 95

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 10

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 11

The Rotary Club of Honesdale

They’ll Be Savoring Flavors with “World on a Fork” Come savor flavors from around the

globe at The Honesdale Rotary’s Inter-

national Flavors Dinner on Saturday,

November 5th at Honesdale High

School, from 5:30pm - 7:30pm. Atten-

dees will enjoy food from Mexico, India,

Italy and many more countries cooked

up by local restaurants and Rotarians.

As one Rotarian put it, “It’s like hav-

ing the world on the tip of your fork!

The event is chaired this year by

Stephen Moulton, with help from Laurie

Harrington. Both agree the dinner is a

great way to taste different cuisines at

a reasonable price.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10

for children. It’s also a great way for

Rotarians to share their own

“international” story.

Monies raised help support both in-

ternational and local projects. In the

past few years, Honesdale Rotary has

helped the Honesdale Little Baseball

Association. Treasure House, the

Honesdale Emergency Food Pantry,

and international efforts such as con-

tributing to shelter boxes for victims of

natural disasters.

Honesdale Rotary also raises funds

for Rotary International’s program to

eradicate polio worldwide. Since 1988,

the incidence of polio globally has de-

creased 99 percent!

Salut! Honesdale Rotarian Richelle Stephens is pictured at last year’s dinner inviting all to sample and help a good cause. This

year’s dinner is November 5th at Honesdale High School.

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 13

Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

Left to Right:

Rain Stays Away for Most of Wine Festival Day

Views of Wine Festival from ground level (above) and overhead (below).

At left, Rotari-

ans Norm Werk-

heiser and Jon

Buxton giving out

commemorative

wine glasses to

tasters. Elsewhere

on the grounds,

Rotarians Ruth

Gorski and Harry

Sharpe spread

the word at the

Rotary Booth.

Despite the threat of rain,

well over 3,200 people attended

this year’s successful Tunkhan-

nock Rotary Harvest & Wine

Festival at Lazybrook Park in

Tunkhannock Township on Sat-

urday, Oct 8. Due to overcrowd-

ing and safety concerns last

year with over 4,100 attendees,

the organizing committee de-

cided to limit the number of tick-

ets sold to allow for a more

manageable crowd, ensuring

that everyone had a great time

and could more easily access

all the vendors. Tickets were

only sold in advance online and

at several local businesses. No

tickets were available at the

gate of the sold-out festival.

Due to the threat of after-

noon rain, people began lining

up for entry 2 hours before the

gate opened at 11 AM. Each

attendee received a commemo-

rative wine glass. Luckily, the

rain held off until 4:50 PM

(Festival closed at 5 PM), so a

great day was had by all.

(SEE, “WINEFEST,” PAGE 16.)

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 14

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 15

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 16

Stefano Sica – Athlete of the

Week (Wyo Co. Press Examiner)

Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

Eleven wineries were rep-

resented, along with approxi-

mately 50 food and craft ven-

dors. The bands AM Radio

and the Idol Kings enter-

tained throughout the day

and had everyone dancing in

the fields.

The Tunkhannock Rotary

Club thanks everyone who

attended the Festival, our

sponsors and most especially

our fellow Rotarians and their

families that made this event

possible. Thanks also to

members of other Rotary

Clubs, inside and outside our

District, who attended this

event. We hope everyone

had a great time.

The Festival is the major

annual fund-raiser for the

Tunkhannock Club and helps

fund programs that benefit

the local community (e.g.

Drug Take Back Outreach,

dictionaries for 3rd graders,

Tunkhannock Public Library,

Dietrich Theater, Victims Re-

sources, HANDS, etc.), as

well as, international projects

(e.g. polio eradication, ex-

change students, disaster

relief, bikes for Indian school

girls, etc.).

WINEFEST…

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13.

Singing Some Golden Oldies Members of the Tunkhannock Area High School Chorus entertain Tunk-

hannock Rotarians and members of the Wyoming County Active Adult Cen-

ter with songs popular decades ago. Rotary Club members were invited to a

luncheon at the center in appreciation for the many improvements they

made there. See the article on page five.

Exchange Student from Italy Named ‘Athlete of Week’ in Tunkhannock

On Oct 12, the Wyoming

County Press Examiner news-

paper named its Athlete of the

Week and it was Stefano Sica,

Tunkhannock Rotary exchange

student from Naples, Italy. Ste-

fano is a member of the Tunk-

hannock High School Soccer

Team and scored a hat trick

(three goals in a single game)

in the Oct 6 game, which lead

the Tunkhannock Tigers from a

deficit en route to a victory over

Crestwood. For the season,

Stefano is second on the team

with 13 goals.

He was featured in a special

story in the Oct 12 edition of the newspaper where he was inter-

viewed about his biggest role

model, post-graduation plans

and the transition coming to

Tunkhannock from Naples, It-

aly, among other questions

(http://wcexaminer.com/sports/

athlete-of-the-week-stefano-

sica-1.2102516).

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 17

The Rotary Club of Hazleton

Hazleton Rotarians planning for their annual spaghetti fundraiser are (from left) Tim Genetti, Lani Drob-

nock, Donna Barna, Dinner Co-Chair Sharon Farver, Rotary President Pat Ward, Foster Dale. Genetti’s Cater-

ing, and Dinner Co-Chair Patrick Genetti

The Hazleton Rotary Club hosted its annual

spaghetti dinner on Wednesday, October 28 at

Genetti Catering. Dinner included salad, spa-

ghetti, meatballs, dessert and coffee and tea.

Take outs were also available.

For the first time at this event, patrons were

also able to purchase chances for a variety of

tricky trays.

“The proceeds from the dinner will help fund

the Hazleton Rotary Club’s Annual Scholarship

Award presented to area seniors,” said Dinner

co-chair Sharon Farver. “Each scholarship

awarded will have a total value of $4,000 to be

disbursed $1,000 per year for a maximum of

four years”.

“We were very pleased that for the first time

we were able to offer scholarships to three

area students this past year. We sincerely ap-

preciate the support of Greater Hazleton area

residents who attend our spaghetti dinners and

help us continue this successful program” com-

ments Ron Avellino, Rotary Club President.

Applications will be available in the spring of

2016 for seniors in a public or private high

school located within the geographic bounda-

ries of the Hazleton Area School District. See

your high school guidance counselor at that

time for complete information.

Rotarians Serve Spaghetti to Fund Scholarships

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 18

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 19

The Rotary Club of Hawley

The Rotary Club of Sayre

Hawley Rotary Kicks Off End Polio Now Week

Hawley Rotary walkers and staff for the Kick-off to

End Polio Now Week include (standing) President Laurie

Frank, Treasurer Missy Wilkins, Richard Bowling, Jim

Pierce, Millie Espino, Roy Kropp, Juan Espino and

Melanie Tek-Visgilio. Kneeling are Tom Visgilio, Mi-

chelle Biscardi and Bonnie Carney.

As a start to the End Polio Now Week, Hawley

Rotary hosted a Polio Walk event open to all Ro-

tarians. Held on Sunday, October 23rd, the Polio

Walk crossed Wallenpaupack Dike and travelled

along the Lake Wallenpaupack Trail. Although it

was a chilly and windy day, walkers proudly wore

their End Polio Now shirts over winter jackets.

Sponsorships from the Hawley Rotary

walkers alone yielded $792 toward the Polio

campaign for 2016-2017.

Many of those who sponsored were made

aware of the Rotary 30-year record to eradicate

polio and were unaware that the disease still ex-

isted in the world in 2016.

Dictionaries Delivered in Sayre The Rotary Club of Sayre recently distributed dic-

tionaries to each third grade student in the Sayre Area

School District. This is one of many community service

projects undertaken by the club annually, and included

students from H. Austin Snyder Elementary School

(top), and Epiphany School. Basic education and liter-

acy is one of the six areas of focus that are priorities for

all Rotary Clubs. The Rotary Club of Sayre welcomes

guests to its weekly luncheon held every Tuesday at

12:10 pm at the Rail House Restaurant in Waverly,

The Rotary Club of Dallas

All third grade students in the Back Mountain area

schools were recently given their own copy of a student

dictionary. The Dallas Rotary Club dictionary project

committee, chaired by Rotarian Ken Chapple, distrib-

uted more than 350 books to Dallas and Lake-Lehman

School District students.

The third grade teachers, school princi-

pals and students welcomed the Rotarians and thanked

them for their dedication to literacy and education.

In photo above, Rotarians delivered dictionaries to all

third grade students in the Dallas Area School Dis-

trict. Seated are Logan Spencer, Olivia Zawatski. Stand-

ing from left are Rotarians Art Peoples, John Rhodes,

Jerry Reisch, Principal Tom Traver, and Teacher Mrs.

Palfey. Dictionaries were also delivered to Lake Lehman

third-graders.

Dictionaries Go to Third-Graders

_______________________________________________________________________ Page 20

District 7410 — 2016 Club Data New Rotarians

Abingtons Christopher Calvey

Gary Lyons

Montrose Julie Lewis

Tracy Zeller

Pocono Mountains Derek Gorman

Eric Noone

Alex Price

Tunkhannock Jodi Crimmel

Maylene Gregory

Wade Linden

Club

Total

Mem.

New

Mem.

Attend.

%

Abingtons 56 2

Athens 16

Athens 11 71.02%

Dallas 44 48.00%

Dunmore 13 70.00%

Forest City Area 12 80.60%

Freeland 10

Hamlin 36 40.55%

Hawley 20 54.00%

Hazleton 83 44.40%

Honesdale 37 41.00%

Jim Thorpe 25 46.00%

Kingston 21 68.00%

Lehighton 9

Mid-Valley 3 66.00%

Milford-Matamoras 24 65.00%

Montrose 20 2

Mountaintop 21

Mt. Pocono 20

New Milford 16

Newfoundland 39 66.54%

North Pocono 19

North Scranton 24 83.00%

Pittston 16 36.00%

Plains 19 55.00%

Plymouth 22

Pocono Mountains 22 3

Sayre 20 57.00%

Scranton 38 0.00%

Slate Belt Rotary 26 70.00%

Smithfields 21 47.62%

Stroudsburgs 100 67.71%

Towanda 14

Trail (Factoryville) 17

Troy 25

Tunkhannock 66 3

Weatherly 10

Wellsboro 44 0.00%

West End 17

Wilkes-Barre 30

Winola 15

Wyalusing Area 27

Wyoming Rotary 19 61.00%

From the Editor… Continued from Page Two.

ware, that I stuck with the Dell for another several months. The Dell, I am happy (and relieved) to report, didn’t let me down.

One of the changes made under DG Barbara (and continued with DG Marcia) was that a monthly newsletter should come out on the first day on the month. It seems that a number of the clubs would understandably not think of sending something in for the November newslet-ter, let’s say, until some time around November. That made it tough on Sandy and Brenda to get the newsletter out soon enough to get ahead of upcoming events that fell in the first half of the month.

I am pleased to say that the word has apparently gone out that we need articles, photos and flyers with at least a few days remaining in the month. I try to get the pdf ver-sion to Brenda by the last day of the previous month, and she sends it out to all of you via email on the first day of the month of the newsletter. Obviously, there will be late breaking stuff to report so, if possible, give me (wes@skillunlimited.com) or Brenda a head’s up so we know it’s coming.

If I don’t hear from you by the last day of the month, it will probably be too late. Whenever you are dealing with numerous emails containing dozens or articles, captions and photos, mistakes and oversights may be made. Last month, for example, we had to send out a revised edition of the newsletter, because I apparently missed an impor-tant flyer.

So far I haven’t turned into a Crying Guy, and I don’t even whine that much. — Editor Wes

District 7410

President – Rotary International 2016-2017 John F Germ (Chattanooga, Tennessee) District Governor 7410 – 2016-2017 Marcia Loughman 201 Marcaby Lane So. Abington TWP, PA 18411 Phone: 570-780-2103 Email: madio@epix.net District Officers Karin-Susan Breitlauch, DGE 2017-2018 Email: ksbvet@ptd.net Roger Mattes, Jr., DGN 2018-2019 Email: matteslaw@epix.net District Treasurer John Regula (The Abingtons) Email: johnregula@aol.com Newsletter Editor/Public Image Wes Skillings (Wyalusing) Email: wes@skillunlimited.com Administrative Assistant Newsletter Publisher & Webmaster Brenda Allen Phone: 570-767-1187 Email: rotarydistrict7410@gmail.com

Assistant Governors by Cluster 1. Nancy Brittain (Sayre) nbrit-tain@stny.rr.com Athens, Sayre, Towanda, Troy, Wellsboro 2. Norm Kelly (Tunkhannock) normkelly@sbcglobal.net Forest City, Montrose, New Milford, Trail, Tunkhannock, Winola, Wyalusing 3. Al Kobe (Honesdale) Jaques2.49.ak@gmail.com Hamlin, Hawley, Honesdale, Milford-Matamoras, Newfoundland 4. Karen DeMatteo (The Stroudsburgs) karenandrotary@gmail.com Blakeslee, Mt. Pocono, Pocono Moun-tains, Slate Belt, The Smithfields, The Stroudsburgs, West End 5. Paul Brenner (Hazleton) paul.brenner.54@gmail.com Freeland, Hazleton, Jim Thorpe, Lehigh-ton, Mountaintop, Weatherly 6. Joe Loughman (North Scran-

ton) ctssm@epix.net The Abingtons, Dunmore, Mid Valley, North Po-cono, North Scranton, Scranton

7. John John, (Pittston) johnj@goldenbusiness.com Dallas, Kingston, Pittston, Plains, Ply-mouth, Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming